If You Please, President Lincoln!

by Harriette Gillem Robinet

Because the Emancipation Proclamation did not free slaves in the border states, Moses, a Maryland slave boy of about 14, ran away. Tricked into being part of a scheme to send freed slaves to Haiti, Moses was among more than 400 slaves who endured hunger and disease before eventually being rescued. Based on a true incident.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 068931969X
• ISBN13: 9780689319693
• Release Date: June 1995
• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.7" x 8.6"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

Moses, a True Leader Lives Up to His Name

"We runnin' away tonight! And don't tell non one!" a fellow slave whispers to you in the field. Chills run down your spine and thoughts race through your head. The year is 1864. You're a slave on plantation in the southern States. You think running away will be great, but one slave who did run away, Moses, in If You Please, President Lincoln by Harriette Gillem Robinet, found out it's a bigger adventure than what you could ever imagine.Moses' closest friend is "Aunt" Rebekah. She always tells Moses to run away from the plantation, but he is afraid to. Aunt Rebekah later becomes sick and dies. Before her death, she wisely one again tells Moses to run away. After her death, Moses realizes there is nothing left for him, so he begins his journey.Moses arrives at Chesapeake Bay. There he meets a blind man by the name of Goshen. They board a Baltimore clipper hoping for work. Little do they know, they boarded a ship taking slaves down to Isle a Vache (Cow Island) off the coast of Haiti to start a colony. Moses becomes a leader of the slaves. The colony never flourishes. Over 60 people die from smallpox and malaria. The colonists send Moses on a water barrel customized into a boat to Hayti (now Haiti) to try and get help. He makes many requests to officials to have President Lincoln send a ship down for srescue. He is imprisioned, but escapes. Moses makes his way back to Isle a Vache not knowing if a boat will come down and rescue the colonists. They live...they wait...and they hope for a rescue. Will they get it? None of them know.Throughout the struggle, Moses learns the quality of leadership. He gets hundreds of people thorugh hard times. This book definitely deserves five stars because it is a good interpretation of the true story of the slaves on Isle a Vache. Moses may or may have not existed, but if he did, he certainly was a true leader.

Moses, a True Leader Lives Up to His Name

"We runnin' away tonight! and don't tell no one!" a fellow slave whipsers to you in the filed. Chills run down your spine and thoughts race through your head. The year is 1864. You're a slave on aplantation in the southern States. You think running away will be great, but one slave who did run away, Moses, in If you please, President Lincoln by Harriette Gillem Robinet, found out it's a bigger adventure than what you could ever imagine.Moses' closeset friend is "Aunt" Rebekah. She always tells Moses to run away from the plantation, but he is afraid to. Aunt Rebekah later becomes sick and dies. Before her death, she wisely once again tells Moses to run away. After her death, Moses realizes there's nothing left for him, so he begins his journey.Moses arrives at Chesapeake Bay. There he meets a blind man by the name of Goshen. they board a Baltimore clipper hoping for work. Little do they know, they board a ship taking slaves down to Isle a Vache (Cow Island) off the coast of Hiti to start a colony. Moses becomes a leader of the slaves. The colonynever flourishes. Over 60 people die from smallpox and malaria. The colonists send Moses on a water barrel customized into a boat to hayti (now Hiti) to try and get help. He makes many requests to officials to have President Lincoln send a ship down for rescue. He is imprisoned, but escapes. Moses makes his way back to Isle a Vache not knowing if a boat will come down and rescue the colonists. They live...they wait...and they hope for a rescue. Will they get it? None of them know.Throughout this struggle, Moses learns the quality of leadership. He gets hundreds of people though hard times. This book definitely deserves five stars because it is a good interpretation of the true story of the slaves on Isle a Vache. Moses may or may have not existed, but if he did, he certainly was a true leader.